My first impression of SFO was “Wow! What a beautiful city!” and I would say I am happy to stick with that. A city that has both hills and sea, is truly a gifted place to be. People say that the weather in California is amongst the best in the United States. The ample warm sunshine was a pleasant break from the cold Chicago. Lovely tree lined streets, nice breeze, lots of people on the street, awesome street side food, great entertainment, excellent public transport, lots of Mexican babes… are just few of the many things that come to my mind when I think back of San Francisco… :)

The flight from Chicago to San Francisco is more than 4 hours long, but flies over some of the most beautiful landscape like the Rocky Mountains…

San Francisco City, as seen from the Marin Headlands (other side of the Golden Gate Bridge)…

The Golden Gate Bridge, is by far the most recognisable landmark of San Francisco… I actually wanted to see this bridge engulfed in clouds, and thought I was unlucky, though Sudeep thought the other way and said that I was lucky to be able to see across the  bay!

San Francisco, like much of the Bay Area, is a hilly city with more than 50 hills within city limits. Though being a planned city with roads looking like lines of a well defined grid, they go up and down, and are quite painful to walk around!

The SFO cable car system is the world’s last permanently operational manually-operated cable car system and is an icon of San Francisco, says Wikipedia…

The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront and a major road that runs along the San Francisco Port, and Bay. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, with the sea and the pier on one side and the downtown on the other. Trees and trams run along the street on one side, while cyclists and joggers fill up the sea side of the Embarcadero…

The Navy Pier is a great place for people to spend some time with themselves, calm and serene, with tons of fresh air and sunlight (when the clouds are not around)…

The Navy Pier contains a number of restaurants and coffee shops and attract a pool of people who like to relax in the open…

Don’t I like taking pics of my feet?!?

This is the Bay Bridge that connects SFO to Oakland, is a double-decker bridge that has one of the longest spans in the world.

This statue of Gandhi is mired in controversies… and may not look as pretty or picturesque from all angles.

It was a weekend trip, but the total time I was in SFO was not more than 18 hours… I did miss a lot of places but the fun really was in walking the streets in downtown and exploring some of the little known corners :). I would really like to thank Sudeep for driving me around the town, and letting me put up with him at his place… Only after coming back to Chicago did I realise that Google’s HQs were just a stone’s throw away from where he stays!

The beginning of November, marks the beginning of colder days, subzero temperatures and snow flurries…

It was the first time I saw such a beautiful fall, or it was the first time I saw fall AT ALL.

Here are some of the pics I took in Evanston, my way to wish it goodbye.

Click to see the pics…

But I missed walking on crispy dried fallen leaves with Roshnai…

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This is the route I take from home to work and back :)

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The thirsty earth waiting to get wet under the shower… The flow of clouds, dark and frightening that cover her just as a mother would cuddle her child… The unleashing of rain that merges the sky with the earth… The sunshine after the rain in which the birds come back to twitter…

Of the little that I read in school, only one poem comes to my mind at such moments…

Shravan maasi, harsha manasi,
Hirwad daate chohikade,
Kshanat yete sar sar shirve,
Kshanat firuni uun pade,
Warati baghta indra dhanucha,
Gof duheri winlase,
Mangal toran kaay bandhile,
Nabo mandapee kuni bhase,
Jhalasa suryast watato,
Saanj ahaha to ughade,
Taru shikharawar uncha gharawar
piwale piwale uun pade…..

And it was almost twice as much as I remember so far…

This poem in Marathi by Balkavi… captures the scene in just the perfect words, here is what it means in English:

In monsoon, there is happiness and greenary everywhere…
The shower comes in a jiffy… and the sun shines back in a jiffy…
As we look up we see the rainbow, making a double layered garland…
It looks as a very auspicious decoration of a place…
As the sun is about to set, the clouds open up…
The yellow sun lights up the peaks of hills and tops of high houses

Just when the clouds were building up…

And then what happened? Click to find out :)

And slowly the entire city is under their sheet…

And they bring the shower with them…

And it makes the whole city wet in moments…

And as they go, the sky opens up, the sunlight falls on the land…

And the rainbow peeps out of the clouds… bringing a smile to everyone watching this dance of nature… :)

Here is the entire poem in Marathi:

श्रावणमासी हर्षमानसी हिरवळ दाटे चोहिकडे
क्षणात येती सरसर शिरवे क्षणात फिरुनी ऊन पडे
वरती बघता इंद्रधनुचा गोफ दुहेरी विणलासे
मंगल तोरण काय बांधले नभोमंडपी कुणी भासे

झालासा सूर्यास्त वाटतो, सांज -अहाहा तो उघडे
तरुशिखरांवर उंच घरांवर पिवळे पिवळे ऊन पडे
उठती वरती जलदांवरती अनंत संध्याराग पहा
सर्व नभावर होय रोखिले सुंदरतेचे रुप महा

बलाकमाला उडता भासे कल्पसुमांची माळचि ते
उतरुनि येती अवनीवरती ग्रहगोलचि की एकमते
फडफड करुनि भिजले अपुले पंख पाखरे सावरती
सुंदर हरिणी हिरव्या कुरणी निजबाळांसह बागडती

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South Korea 대한민국 (Dae han min guk) is a very small nation, about half the size of Gujarat, and slightly bigger than Sri Lanka, in North Eastern Asia. In spite of having faced invasions from Japan, China and Russia, and many problems that any nation faces, this small nation emerged as a true leader. Despite a severe setback caused by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the country was able to re-emerge as a major economic power. In 2004, South Korea joined the “trillion dollar club” of world economies. The policies and decisions of the government from 1970-2000 saw South Korea transform from a troubled state facing problems like India is today, to a developed nation. The quality of life and level of happiness in its people is awesome. Technology is the center of attraction here apart from the vibrant colours and fashion. This place aims to become the hub of North East Asia, and I see all hints at it trying to achieve it hard!

Korea is one crazy nation, is the only country in the world probably, where you would find children, girls, guys, and even elder people wearing bright pink clothes! And it looks so good on them!! Major expenditure of Korean Youth is on Cosmetics!!!! If you are in Korea, you will realise it in no time. 20 percent of young girls have undergone cosmetic surgery to look more beautiful, but I bet they look better anyway! The average person looks much younger than what he or she may be… a very young looking modern girl may actually be mom of one or two kids! (You may see my post “Inha at Night” for an example.) The literacy is 98% and average life expectancy is 77 years~It has amongst the highest number of medals in Asian games and Olympics, (one question that all Koreans tend to ask me is why India never gets good results in any sport inspite of having such a huge population).
It beat India almost twice in recent times, one… during the election for the UN General Secretary and then next during the voting for the city to host Asian Games in 2014.

Also, Seoul is the most expensive city to live in the world, after Moscow!

Things I would recommend:
Try to speak some Korean, the locals will mix up better with you if you do so…
Make good friends, they will really make sure you have a good time…
Try to enjoy the food here, you wont get something like this back home…
Go for a walk rather than a drive, it will rejuvenate your body mind and soul…
Wear pink, it will perhaps look good on you here…
Drink with locals but don’t get drunk, else you will vomit…
Watch Korean movies, they are awesome…
Ogle at Korean girls, they are pretty and cute and most fashionable…
Do lots of shopping…He he…. And have a nice time… :)

15 degree bend…

Seoul Plaza Hotel.

Me: The King!

Palace Architecture.

This is a Korean lucky bird for those who see it.

Inside the Seoul City Center Palace.

Happy Couple!